All Creditors Must Be Listed If you are filing bankruptcy, then all of your creditors must be listed.  This includes credit cards, personal loans, auto payments, mortgage payments and any other debt, including debts owed to family members.  I understand that many people have lived off credit cards, they love the convenience of credit cards and they want to keep one credit card free and clear and they don’t want to lose it in the bankruptcy.  Now, this is true even if they have a zero balance on that card and even if it’s the card that they’ve had since they turned 18 and they’ve had it forever and they don’t want to lose it. The problem is the Bankruptcy Code mandates that all debts be + Click Here For Read More

Creditors Should Not Call Creditors should not be calling you after your bankruptcy case is filed.  In some cases, creditors just have not received the required notice under the Bankruptcy Code.  In some cases, notice has gone to the proper address, however, there is a collection firm involved now who did not have knowledge of the bankruptcy case and is calling you.  Stopping Creditors There is a real simple way to stop creditors from calling.  Firstly, and this is before your case is even filed, give your creditors your attorney’s name and number.  Let them know that you are filing bankruptcy, you’ve hired an attorney, give the attorney’s name, give the attorneys number and advise them + Click Here For Read More

There are several factors that can affect the cost to file for bankruptcy in Illinois.  The first factor is which Chapter of the bankruptcy code are you filing under?  If you are considering filing a Chapter 7, then you are going to have a fixed cost known as the filing fee.  At the time of this writing, the filing fee for Chapter 7 bankruptcy is $306.00.  This fee gets paid directly to the Clerk of the United States Bankruptcy Court and is mandated unless a waiver is granted.  If you are considering filing under Chapter 13 of the bankruptcy code, then the mandatory filing fee with the court at the time of this writing is $281.00.  Again, there are waivers in particular cases based upon the + Click Here For Read More

Under either chapter 7 bankruptcy or chapter 13 bankruptcy, you must list all of the people that you owe money to.  This includes credit cards that you want to keep, friends that lent you money, family members that lent you money and anybody else that you owe.  The one exception to this would be with regard to credit cards that have a zero balance.  If you have a zero balance, then technically you do not owe any money; therefore, that creditor does not have to be listed.  However, I want to cautious you that you are likely to receive a letter from that credit card company terminating your charging privileges going forward.  So don’t plan on being able to keep any type of credit card after + Click Here For Read More

Each case is different.  Under Chapter7 bankruptcy, the debtor gets a fresh start.  Under chapter 13 bankruptcy, the creditors get paid a certain percentage on the dollar over a three to five-year payment plan. The reason why one person would have to back a creditor and another would not is based on equity, income, assets and liabilities.  Let’s take the case of someone who has disposable income per month in excess of their expenses.  That person is typically going to be required to file a chapter 13 and put all of his or her disposable income each month towards a chapter 13 repayment plan which could last anywhere from 3 to 5 years.  If, on the other hand, you have someone who does not + Click Here For Read More

Chapter 7 bankruptcy allows for a fresh start.  It also allows for you to keep a certain amount of property known as exempt property free and clear from creditors and from the long arm of the trustee.  In terms of real estate, you can protect up to $15,000 worth of equity.  In the case of a joint case, husband and wife, you can protect up to $30,000 worth of equity in a piece of real estate. In terms of other property, there is a $2400 auto exemption and a $4000 miscellaneous personal property exemption that can be sprinkled over any type of personal property.  When you have a joint case, the exemptions are doubled.  So when you ask am I going to lose my property whether it be a house or + Click Here For Read More

Chapter 7 bankruptcy, known as the fresh start bankruptcy, is a way to get out of debt.  However, student loans are not eliminated under a Chapter 7 except in extreme hardship cases.  In my experience, an extreme hardship case is almost impossible to find.  You must be in a position where you can no longer make the payment, you no longer have the ability to make the payment and it is causing an extreme hardship on your ability to survive.  In all the cases that I have seen in the 21 years of practice, there has not been one that has met this standard.  If, in fact, the client does not have the ability to repay a student loan based on their inability to work, then basically the collection + Click Here For Read More